


Next time we fly, I'm using the suit

by First_page



Series: Whump & Webs [15]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Bucky Barnes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Phobias, Protective Tony Stark, Sickfic, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Vomiting, Whump, Whumptober 2020, whumptober 2020 prompt 18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/First_page/pseuds/First_page
Summary: Peter is on his first official Avengers mission, but they are using the Quinjet to get there. Peter is afraid of planes after his parents died in a plane crash. All is going well until turbulence starts. Tony is there to try to talk Peter down from the major panic attack, but Bucky is the real hero this time.Whumptober prompt 18: Phobias, panic attacksThe Irondad continues with this one, but "Uncle Bucky" steps up big time.Trigger warning because Peter has a massive, very detailed panic attack.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whump & Webs [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979068
Comments: 13
Kudos: 182
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Next time we fly, I'm using the suit

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for the panic attack and maybe the vomiting too.

Peter looks at his homework page and sighs. Today is first time that he’s on the Quinjet with The Avengers, on a real mission, and poor Peter has to do homework during the plane ride. That’s what he gets for being a teenage superhero.

Peter squints at the math equation on the page. “Mr. Stark? What’s the cube root of 2,197?”

Tony is sitting at the other side of the plane. It’s the part of the plane with two couches wrapped around a small conference table, like booths in a restaurant.

He’s casually slouched on the couch with his feet up. “If _I_ told you the answer _you_ wouldn’t be doing _your_ homework.”

Cap walks behind Tony and knocks his feet off the table. “The answer is 45. Feet off the table Stark.”

Tony frowns. “What? No it’s not. The answer’s 13. Like you even know what a cube root is.”

Cap shrugs. “You’re right. I don’t. But I know that correcting my wrong answer is one way to get you to give Peter the right answer.”

Tony smirks. “I underestimated you Stars and Stripes.”

Cap gives him a sideways glance. “You do it all the time, but eventually you’ll learn.”

Thor sits next to Peter and yawns. “Spider-child, on my home planet, there is no such thing as homework. Learning is done at school. Feasting, battle, sleeping, and merriment are done afterward.”

Peter looks up from his calculations. “What’s merriment?”

Cap gives Thor a warning look, but Thor laughs. “That varies. But for you, let it be this.” Thor points the remote at the tv and it clinks on.

Peter perks up at the tease of a homework break, but he almost jumps out of his seat when a certain commercial starts. “Oh my God! This is the commercial Ned was telling me about!”

He takes the remote from Thor and turns up the volume.

A man in a Spider-man outfit is holding a bottle of barbecue sauce. The imitation Spider-man is twice as tall as Peter and fairly overweight. The commercial continues with the man holding up the bottle of sauce. “With great power, comes great barbecue sauce.”

The Spider-fake takes off his mask to perform the worst face reveal in history. The dude isn’t even close to what Peter looks like. The middle-aged sauce salesman smiles. “Hi. I’m not the real Spider-man.”

Tony smirks. “No shit.”

That earns a laugh from Bruce.

The actor playing Spider-man continues to talk about how great the barbecue sauce is and Peter winces. “This is so cringey.”

Bucky shrugs from the other side of the plane. “Yeah, but it’s good barbecue sauce. I’ve had it before.”

When the commercial ends, Peter proceeds to watch an action movie with Thor for the next 3 hours. When the movie ends, he turns off the tv so he can go back to doing homework. Thor decides to take a nap after the merriment.

The plane ride is going well until the plane takes a slight stutter. The movement is so slight that the drink on the table in front of Peter barely shifts, but Peter’s heart stops. This is what he’s been dreading.

Peter has a fear of planes. More accurately, a fear of planes crashing… like the plane crash that killed his parents.

Peter closes his eyes and tries to steady his heartbeat. He had literally held his breath for the entire take-off and plans to do the same for landing, but holding his breath from this point in the flight until they land isn’t possible.

He opens his eyes and tries to focus on his remaining math homework, but the numbers are blurry and dancing on the page.

Clint’s voice comes over the loudspeaker in the smooth pilot tone. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking, we’re coming up on a bit of rough air. It’s going to get a little bumpy, so keep your seatbelts on and don’t do anything stupid.”

Tony cups his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice so that Clint can hear from the cockpit. “I should have taken JetBlue.”

Clint gets back on the intercom. “And for the gentleman that regrets flying Avenger airlines, you can feel free to open the emergency door and get sucked out of the plane. No one will miss you. Seriously though, guys. Buckle up. We’re headed into stormy weather. It’s gonna get jacked up in a minute.” 

The passengers follow orders and move to the row of jump seats. Every time someone clicks their seatbelt, Peter jumps. He doesn’t know exactly what jacked up entails, but it doesn’t sound good.

Peter doesn’t even notice that his jump seat is next to Tony, until his mentor snaps his fingers in front of Peter’s face. “Earth to Peter. Are you alright?”

Peter stutters. “Yes, yeah, um, I’m -f-fine. I’m still working out a math problem in my head.”

Tony lowers his voice to a whisper. “When will you learn that you can’t lie to a professional liar?”

Peter blushes. “Um, it’s embarrassing.”

Tony nods. “Ok, embarrassing. Let’s see. Do you need an airsickness bag?”

Peter winces. “No, but I wouldn’t rule that out.”

Tony continues to solve the puzzle. “Ok so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re scared. Am I right?”

Peter nods.

Tony tries to solve the rest of the mystery. “What are you scared of kiddo?”

Peter’s voice is so low that Tony can barely hear him. “I’m scared of planes.”

“Because of what happened to your mom and dad?”

Peter bites his lip and nods.

Thor is on Peter’s other side and notices that Peter is acting a little weird. He frowns. “What is the matter with Spider-child?”

Tony tries to answer without embarrassing Peter. “He’s a little scared.”

Thor’s voice booms, echoing throughout the plane. “There is no need to be frightened of thunder and lighting. I command both with the might of my hammer!”

Tony shakes his head. “Nope. Not going to continue this conversation until you use your inside voice, Buddy.”

Thor is about to answer, but before he gets a chance, the plane takes a tilt and Clint’s threat of turbulence starts to become a reality.

The aircraft rocks from side to side and Peter feels his stomach jump to his throat. He closes his eyes and lets out a string of ‘no, no, no’ as the plane takes an aggressive dip. The no’s continue to roll out of Peter’s mouth as the plane rolls from side to side.

Peter’s seat belt is firmly fastened, but the poor boy is grabbing onto the sides of the seat, holding on for dear life.

Peter’s anxiety is skyrocketing, and fear escalates to panic. He leans over, hugging himself into a tight ball, and starts to cry.

His knees muffle his cries as his mantra of ‘ _no, no, no_ ’ turns into ‘ _please, please, I can’t_ ’

Tony uses the little movement that his seatbelt allows to try to comfort Peter. “It’s alright. It’s turbulence. It’ll be over soon. Like Clint said, we’re passing through a storm cloud.”

Peter lifts his head and starts to hyperventilate. “It’s not alright. I can’t do this. I have to get out of here. _I have to get out!”_

Peter grabs at his safety harness and tries to free himself, but Tony grabs his wrists. “You have to keep that on Peter.”

Peter is irrational at this point. “No! I have to get out. I don’t want to die. We’re all going to die! Mr. Stark, please. You have to help me. I don’t want to die. I- I can’t breathe. Help me. _Help me!”_

Peter is much stronger than Tony, so he’s already ripped the seatbelt off, but Tony is holding down against Peter’s shoulders to keep him in the seat. Tony’s using all his strength to keep Peter seated, but he isn’t strong enough to fully overpower Peter’s superstrength. Tony just hopes that holding onto Peter’s shoulders will keep him emotionally grounded enough to stay put.

Peter struggles against Tony’s hold. Visions of Peter’s parents flood the poor kids mind and as much as Peter wants to run, he’s paralyzed with the icy chill of fear. Peter starts crying hysterically at this point and his mind starts to crack. He’s convinced that Tony isn’t listening to him and he doesn’t know why. Don’t they know that the plane is going to crash? Why isn’t Tony helping?

Peter’s cries of help are laced with sheer desperation. “I need help, please, _please, help me…._ Mom. I need my mom… I need my mom. Help me mom, _please_!”

Tony feels his heart literally breaking. “I know, kid. I wish I could bring her here, but I can’t. You’re having a panic attack and if she were here, she would be doing the same thing that I am. She would be telling you to breathe. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but you’re safe. I promise.”

Peter answers with sharp, painful breaths. Tony loosens his grip on Peter’s shoulders. He’s more convinced that the scared spider is going to pass out instead of run away.

Peter’s shaking violently at this point, but the plane isn’t. This change in the atmosphere allows Tony to take off his seatbelt to face Peter. It also allows Cap and Bucky to come over for assistance.

Cap clears his throat. “Peter? You’re ok. Everything is ok.”

Peter shakes his head and looks at Cap, but doesn’t really see him. “Everyone is going to die. Just like my parents. I can’t save them. All of my friends... all of my family. My new family. I can’t – I can’t.”

Cap’s eyes dart to Bucky. “What do we do?”

Bucky takes an uneasy breath. “He’s having a massive panic attack. Been there, done that. I know how to handle this. It’s too much for him to hear from his friends. He thinks we’re going to die and it’s sending him into even more of a spiral. Let me try something.”

Bucky squats down to be on eye-level with Peter and establishes eye contact. “Pete, can you hear me? It’s James.”

Bucky rarely refers to himself as James, and never in front of Peter, but he hopes that it’s enough for Peter to not see him as ‘Bucky’.

Peter’s voice is shaky. “James?”

Bucky nods. “Yeah, buddy. I need you to focus on me. You’re not in an airplane, your safe in your room. Put your feet on the floor and feel the ground under you.”

Peter slowly curls out of the tight ball and places both feet on the floor.

Bucky takes a slow exhale. “Good. Do you feel the floor? You’re not falling. You’re on stable ground. Solid ground.”

A tear rolls down Peters cheek.

Bucky continues. “Put your hands down next to you. What do you feel?”

Peter’s fingers squeeze the side of his seat. He’s still trembling, but he manages a decent grip. “I- I feel a seat. I’m sitting. I’m safe, James.”

Bucky smiles. “That’s right. You’re safe. You’re grounded. Now I need you to move from the outside to the inside. Put your hand on your chest. What do you feel?”

Peter winces. “Like someone’s sitting on my chest. It’s too heavy.”

“That’s ok. We’re going to fix that. Breathe slowly. The slower your breathe, the lighter the weight gets.”

Peter closes his eyes and slows his breathing. The short, rapid gasps melt into longer, deeper breaths and soon his heart is drumming at a normal speed. Peter opens his eyes, and the image of this bedroom fades out of focus and James turns back into Bucky. Peter remembers that he’s in the plane, but the panic is over.

Peter sniffs. “Bucky?”

Bucky takes a sigh of relief. “Welcome back, kid.”

Peter feels all the prior uneasiness travel up through his throat and he puts a fist over his mouth. Tony quickly offers an air sickness bag and Peter vomits forcefully into the paper bag.

Bucky winces. “Yeah. That’s usually how my sessions end too.”

Peter tries to apologize during a break in the cycle of vomit-breathe-repeat. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe that happened. Why did that have to happen in front of you guys?”

Peter isn’t a stranger to panic attacks and anxiety, but his worst nightmare is to have one in front of his superhero idols. That nightmare has become an embarrassingly horrible reality.

Bucky’s thighs are burning from squatting too long, so he switches to sitting cross-legged on the floor. “You can’t really plan when a freak out is gonna happen. I’ve tried it. It doesn’t work.”

Peter shakes his head. “Mr. Stark or Cap or all of you guys have to come and save me all the time. I wanted to prove that I could take care of myself. I failed big time on that one.”

Bucky smiles. “You’re still new at the superhero thing, so getting out of burning buildings or other dangerous situations is going to take some time. But dealing with extreme psychological stuff isn’t something you should do alone. When I was the Winter solider, I was brutally tortured in every way imaginable. Some of the things they did were unspeakable… but in order to get back to normal, in order to heal, I had to talk about them.”

Peter feels the tears stinging his eyes again. This time the tears are for Bucky. “Were you embarrassed to talk about it?”

Bucky’s eyes go distant. “Sure. I was mortified to tell Cap about how they would tie a metal chain around my neck and beat me for hours with –.” Bucky remembers who he’s talking to and changes course on the sentence. “Um, yeah. It was embarrassing, but I had to talk about it. The thing is, what happened to me was pretty intense and I realized pretty quickly that talking to Cap was traumatizing him, so I found a therapist. That might be something you should look into.”

Peter smiles. “I hope I can find one as good as James.”

Bucky stands up and ruffles Peter’s hair. “Well James is here if you need him again, but I think the rough patch is over. You should probably get some rest so you’ll be ok for the mission.”

Peter squints. “I’m not sure if I’m done throwing up yet or if this is just a pause in the action.”

Bucky pats Peter’s shoulder. “You’ll be ok. I’m sure your Irondad can take over at this point.”

Tony bristles at the word dad, but it doesn’t bother him as much as he thinks it should.

Bucky leaves the two and flops down on the airplane couch. He’s not sure if Clint turned off the fasten seat belt sign, but the plane isn’t rocking so he figures he’s safe.

His best friend sits next to him. “You did real good Buck.”

Bucky smirks. “Well golly gosh Cap, that’s swell.”

Cap playfully swats Bucky. “I’m serious, Buck. I had no clue how to help him.”

Bucky’s smirk fades. “I wish I didn’t have so much experience going through the same thing.”

Cap sighs. “It was a terrible thing that happened, but it’s a good life skill to have.”

Bucky cracks his neck. “When you were a kid, you were afraid of heights. After the supersoldier serum, you got over that. Do you still have any phobias?”

Cap nods. “I’m afraid of stuffed toys that look like me.”

Bucky laughs. “Yeah, I still have that thing. I’m not getting rid of it.”

Cap starts to lecture Bucky on why he doesn’t like the stuffed toy, but Bucky tunes him out.

The Winter solider closes his eyes and smiles at the fact that he had used his humanity instead of his metal arm, or knife skills to save someone.

Bucky’s worst fear is that after all the damage that his captors did, one day a switch is going to go off and he’s going to lose his humanity. He smiles at the fact that today is not that day. And a little piece of him starts to believe that the hypothetical day will never come.

He’s going to have a lot to talk about during his next session. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
